Turkey's Identity CrisisAs politicians purposefully polarize their own society for political profit, the result is rage and violence.STEVEN A. COOK JUN 25, 2017

On June 14, a Turkish court sentenced Enis Berberoglu to 25 years in prison for spying. The decision sent shockwaves through Turkey, even after a year during which the government arrested, detained, or purged more than 200,000 people in the aftermath of last summer’s attempted coup d’etat. Berberoglu is neither a supporter of the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses of orchestrating the military intervention, nor is he a member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a terrorist organization that has been waging a war on the country for three decades. He is a journalist and legislator from the Republican People’s Party, which represents a decidedly secular and nationalist constituency.

Turkey has imprisoned 177 other journalists, but never a non-Kurdish parliamentarian. The charges against him are fabricated—he has run afoul of the government because he does not support the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) religiously based agenda to transform the country, and is believed to be a source in a story detailing the shipment of weapons to extremist groups in Syria by Turkish intelligence agents. In response to his imprisonment, the leader of Berberoglu’s party began to lead a nationwide march for justice....

Mohandas “Mahatma-Venerable” Gandhi embarked on his “Salt March” in order to protest an unfair British salt tax system on March 12, 1930. On the 24th day of his march, which he had started with 78 companions, and despite British attempts to stop it, Gandhi reached the town of Dandi by the ocean and pinched a handful of un-taxed salt of his own country. That was the start of a non-violent direct action campaign and a civil-disobedience movement that ended up in the independence of India from the United Kingdom in 1947.

When elected as the chairman of the social democratic Republican People’s Party (CHP) in 2010, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was nicknamed as Gandhi not only because of the physical resemblance but also the modest, but stubborn, approach he brought to Turkish politics. Kılıçdaroğlu has been the target of many criticisms so far for not being able to lead an effective opposition movement and campaign against landslide wins of President Tayyip Erdoğan, despite being able to increase his party’s vote potential from 21-22 level to 25-26 and keeping it there. That was until June 14, when an Istanbul court sentenced a CHP deputy, Enis Berberoğlu, to 25 years in jail on charges of terrorism and espionage for providing news material to a newspaper....

How Much Can One Strongman Change a Country?Recep Tayyip Erdogan is thinking about his legacy—and his own mortality. He desires power, but not necessarily for its own sake.SHADI HAMID JUN 26, 2017 GLOBAL

Politicians—especially ideological ones—have to eventually deal with the “then what?” question. With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s narrow victory in a tense April referendum granting him sweeping new powers (amid opposition allegations of voter fraud), he could very well dominate the country’s politics through 2029. He would have more than a decade to reshape Turkey, altering the very meaning of what it means to be Turkish.

In the first decade of its rule, beginning in 2002, Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) presided over a rapidly growing economy, pushed through liberal reforms, and sidelined a military that had undermined Turkish democracy in a series of coups over the course of six decades. Could that, though, really have been all the AKP and its fiery, erratic leader hoped to accomplish?...

Snips... “An exceptionally charismatic leader can overcome even strong institutions,” write Byman and Pollack, which is precisely what Erdogan was able to do in his battle with a once dominant “deep state,” a shadowy configuration of powerful networks, namely in the military, judiciary, and security services....

... Samuel Huntington, in his much-pilloried The Clash of Civilizations, described Turkey as the quintessential “torn country”— and one that could perhaps become untorn by becoming the central “core state” at the helm of the Muslim world, rather than a doting, awkward member of the West. To do so, Huntington argued that Turkey “would have to reject Ataturk’s legacy more thoroughly than Russia has rejected Lenin’s. It would also take a leader of Ataturk’s caliber and one who combined religious and political legitimacy to remake Turkey from a torn country into a core state.” Huntington wrote these words in 1996, when Erdogan was a young mayor of Istanbul who few outside of Turkey had ever heard of....

Turkey’s fight against Gülen in the South CaucasusLAMIYA ADILGIZI 6 July 2017The Turkish authorities’ fight against real and imagined enemies in the Gülen movement has now reached Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The European Parliament has passed a resolution expressing “serious concern” on the case of the Azerbaijani investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was abducted from Tbilisi late May, only to appear before a court in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku some days later. But the spotlight has yet to fall on another case in Georgia: Mustafa Emre Çabuk, a Turkish schoolteacher, still sits in Gldani prison in the Georgian capital, where an uncertain fate awaits him.

Ankara has repeatedly accused Çabuk of “supporting terrorism” in reference to his alleged links with the Hizmet movement associated with Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish Muslim preacher and philanthropist based in the US. Çabuk, who has lived in Georgia for 15 years, is now at imminent risk of extradition to Turkey where, judging by similar cases, he is at risk of being tortured. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________Çabuk, who has lived in Georgia for 15 years, now risks of extradition to Turkey where he risks being tortured________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Çabuk first came to Georgia in 2002 to work as a physics teacher at the Refaiddin Şahin Friendship School in Batumi, which was shut down earlier this year by Georgia’s National Center for Education Quality Enhancement (NCEQE). The Georgian authorities’ decision came shortly after Turkish officials criticised the Gülen-run school, which teaches five to 12-year olds, calling it an institution “serving a terrorist group.”

The abduction of Mukhtarli shattered Georgia’s image as a safe haven for dissidents from neighbouring countries, and prompted many Georgians to consider the extent of oil-rich Azerbaijan’s political clout. With Turkey sliding ever further into authoritarianism, is there another headache on the horizon for the Georgian authorities? ...

‘March for Justice’ Ends in Istanbul With a Pointed Challenge to ErdoganBy CARLOTTA GALLJULY 9, 2017

ISTANBUL — Hundreds of thousands of protesters turned out for a massive rally in Istanbul on Sunday evening, cheering the leader of the opposition as he concluded his three-week March for Justice and threw down a challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to institute changes or face a “revolt against injustice.”

“Nobody should think this march has ended; this march is a beginning,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, known as C.H.P., said as he walked onto a stage to rippling cheers. “This is a rebirth for us, for our country and our children. We will revolt against injustice.”

Mr. Kilicdaroglu addressing a rally held in Istanbul on Sunday to demand justice for the thousands of people arrested or suspended from their jobs since Turkey’s failed coup last year. Credit Chris Mcgrath/Getty ImagesThe march, organized by politicians from Turkey’s largest opposition party to protest the government crackdown against thousands of its opponents, drew tens of thousands of people, who trekked, beginning on June 15, from the capital, Ankara, to Turkey’s first city, Istanbul, which is about 250 miles to the northwest.

Over a million people attended the rally on Sunday evening, the police told C.H.P. organizers, as youth groups and other opposition parties joined in. Marchers wearing T-shirts and carrying signs with the single word “adalet,” or justice, called for the return of an independent judiciary and swift and fair justice for the tens of thousands of people arrested or suspended from their jobs since Turkey’s failed coup last year....

A small group of Swedish lawmakers have filed a legal complaint accusing Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, reports AFP.The complaint signed by five lawmakers from the Left and Green parties is the first of its kind in Sweden against a head of state, writes AFP.

The suit relates to the conflict in Turkey's Kurdish majority south-east, which has been battered by renewed fighting between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces since a fragile truce collapsed in 2015....

Snip... Carl Schlyter, an MP for the Greens, said he hoped other lawmakers in European countries would follow their move.

“If (Erdogan) is hindered from roaming around in Europe and influencing European countries the way he wants, then I hope that this will affect his politics,” he said....

Media captionPresident Erdogan says most Turkish people don't want EU membershipTurkey will find it "comforting" if the EU says it cannot be accepted as a member, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told the BBC.

Speaking to HARDtalk's Zeinab Badawi, he said Turkey was "able to stand on its own two feet".He also denied the country had jailed 150 journalists, saying only two people with press cards were in prison.Meanwhile, Turkey extended the detention of the local director of Amnesty International and nine others.

Idil Eser was detained on 5 July during a digital security and information management workshop, along with seven other rights activists and two foreign trainers....

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the failed coup against Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an event he has since used to further alienate his opponents. This alienation is reinforced by the authoritarian chamber that Erdogan inhabits, a result of both his upbringing as a pious, yet second-class citizen in once-secularist Turkey, as well as his consolidation of power since 2002, when his Justice and Development Party (AKP) took power in Ankara.

As I explain in my book, The New Sultan, Erdogan was born in 1954 to a poor family in Kasimpasa, a gritty neighborhood along Istanbul’s Golden Horn, then a polluted waterway overflowing with sewage. He grew up in a deeply religious family at a time when Turkey had a staunchly secularist system, which banished all forms of religiosity to the private sphere, and in which people like Erdogan and his family felt profoundly marginalized.

Even Imam Hatip, the publicly funded religious school Erdogan attended, received second-class treatment in secularist Turkey. In a 2013 interview, Erdogan professed feeling “othered” along with his Imam Hatip peers, describing how he was repeatedly told that his education would disqualify him from any profession other than washing the bodies of the dead—a task traditionally reserved for the clergy in Islam....

DAILY SABAH WITH ANADOLU AGENCYISTANBULPublishedJuly 12, 2017US deal a sign of Qatar’s anti-terror determination, FM Çavuşoğlu saysForeign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Wednesday that Qatar's recent deal with the U.S. on anti-terror financing is "a sign of its determination in fighting terrorism."

"I know that Qatar has always been with us on fighting terrorism. This deal is a sign of Qatar's determination and sincerity in its fight against terrorism," the top diplomat said.

He was addressing a joint press conference with Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore in capital Ouagadougou.

Qatar and the U.S. signed a deal to combat the financing of terrorism, during a visit to Doha by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, a move that comes as the Gulf crisis continues in the region....

Turkish mobile users get surprise July 15 message from ErdoğanDAILY SABAH WITH AGENCIES ISTANBUL Published July 16, 2017

People making telephone calls to Turkish mobile phones Saturday night heard an unexpected voice on the line – President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Before the number would actually connect, callers were surprised by an audio recording of the president, to mark the first anniversary of a failed coup.

After dialing a number, instead of hearing a dialtone users heard a voice message from Erdoğan congratulating them on the national holiday of "democracy and unity" that marks the coup's defeat.

Only after Erdoğan's message did the dialtone begin.

"As president, I send congratulations on the July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day and wish the martyrs mercy and the heroes (of the defeat of the coup) health and wellbeing," said the message read by Erdoğan....

Erdogan: 'We will chop off the heads of those traitors'Published July 17, 2017 Fox News

In a fiery speech Saturday marking a year since the Turkish government put down a coup attempt, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “chop off the heads” of traitors if capital punishment were restored in the country.

“First of all we will chop off the heads of those traitors,” Erdogan said in a speech celebrating the defeat of the Turkish coup....

Snip... Supporters of Erdogan chanted “we are soldiers of Tayyip” and displayed nooses in a symbol of support for the death penalty, AFP reported....

Turkey's new school curriculum drops evolution and will teach concept of jihadEducation minister says 'the real meaning of jihad is loving your nation'Samuel Osborne 3 days Turkey's new school curriculum drops Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and adds the concept of jihad as patriotic in spirit.

The move has fuelled fears President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is subverting the republic's secular foundations.

The chairman of a teachers' union has described the changes as a huge step in the wrong direction for Turkey's schools and an attempt to avoid raising "generations who ask questions"....

Turkish parliament’s education commission member says ‘no use in teaching math to students who don’t know jihad’

A member of the Turkish parliament’s national education commission has said there is no use in teaching mathematics to students who don’t know jihad.

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker Ahmet Hamdi Çamlı praised a recent move to include the concept of “jihad” to the country’s new education curriculum, saying that “jihad is Islam’s most prior element.”

“Jihad comes before prayer. When we look at Ottoman sultans, nearly all of them didn’t even go to hajj in order not to abandon jihad,” Çamlı told daily Habertürk on July 22.

The final version of Turkey’s national school curriculum has left evolution out and added the concept of “jihad” as part of Islamic law in books, Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz said on July 18, causing major controversy.

President Erdogan vows to behead 'traitors' on first anniversary of failed Turkey coup

'Exactly a year ago today, around this hour, a treacherous attempt took place'Zeynep Bilginsoy, Suzan Fraser Istanbul |Saturday 15 July 2017 21:53 BST|

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to behead traitors in an emotional address to tens of thousands of people on the first anniversary of the country’s failed military coup.

Mr Erdogan told the vast, flag-waving crowd the attempt to end his more than a decade-long rule was “not the first attack against our country, and it won't be the last”.

“Exactly a year ago today, around this hour, a treacherous attempt took place,” he said.

Then, referring to a series of terror attacks that hit Turkey over the last year, he added: “For that reason, we'll first cut the heads off of these traitors.”

Mr Erdogan took part in a national unity march in Istanbul, converging at the July 15 Martyrs' Bridge, formally called the Bosphorus Bridge, to remember 250 people who died on this day last year trying to resist the coup.

So lets recap:Beheading of those who oppose Erdogan. Tens of thousands arrested accused of being associated with Gulen. You know these people are falsely accused, and should he succeed they will be sacrificed to the god of his ambitions. Mass murder by mass beheadings.

Also remember. The PRIMARY reason the EU isn't letting Turkey in is because of Turkey's definition of a terrorist: Anyone who defies Erdogan. Its the Turkish terrorism law that the EU demands be changed and now he wants to reinstitute the death penalty which is offence #2 for the EU.

So if Erdogan is to be sultan of Islam and any who defies him is a terrorist and jihad is now to be taught in public schools...

What does the bible say of the AC? Beheads those who refuse to bow to him and his god and makes war against the strongest fortresses (nations).

Get ready, the Islamizations/Nazification of Turkey is speeding up fast.

"It is not who I am...But what I do that defines me" -Batman, Batman Begins

ISTANBUL — Diplomatic nuance may not be Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest suit, but Turkey’s combative leader is trying to tread carefully in his current voyage through the Arabian Peninsula.

The Turkish president set off Sunday on a whistle-stop tour through the Gulf states, in an attempt to resolve an ongoing crisis in the Gulf that has placed Ankara in a delicate position. But the trip also highlights the challenges to Turkish foreign policy amid the fast shifting dynamics of the region.

As the Arab Spring kicked off in 2011, a confident Turkey hoped to restore some of its former Ottoman-era glory, positioning itself as a leader among the Sunni Muslim nations. It threw its weight behind Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Syria’s rebels, just as it had backed Hamas in Gaza. Qatar proved an enthusiastic ally.

This strategy backfired when the Brotherhood was overthrown in Egypt and replaced by a military strongman who, backed by the region’s other status quo powers, chiefly Saudi Arabia, is restoring the pre-2011 status quo in Cairo. Syria’s Turkish-backed rebels lost ground and Bashar al-Assad held on to power in Damascus. These setbacks left Turkey looking weakened and isolated in the region — just at the time that Ankara’s relations with its long-standing NATO allies are fraying under Erdoğan....

Ankara: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday urged all Muslims to visit and protect Jerusalem after violence broke out over metal detectors that Israel installed and later removed from a sensitive holy site in the city.

"From here I make a call to all Muslims. Anyone who has the opportunity should visit Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa mosque," Erdogan said in Ankara. "Come, let's all protect Jerusalem."

File image of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan . AFPFile image of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. AFPHe was referring to the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict....

kirthril wrote:[size=150]So lets recap:Beheading of those who oppose Erdogan. Tens of thousands arrested accused of being associated with Gulen. You know these people are falsely accused, and should he succeed they will be sacrificed to the god of his ambitions. Mass murder by mass beheadings.

Also remember. The PRIMARY reason the EU isn't letting Turkey in is because of Turkey's definition of a terrorist: Anyone who defies Erdogan. Its the Turkish terrorism law that the EU demands be changed and now he wants to reinstitute the death penalty which is offence #2 for the EU.

So if Erdogan is to be sultan of Islam and any who defies him is a terrorist and jihad is now to be taught in public schools...

What does the bible say of the AC? Beheads those who refuse to bow to him and his god and makes war against the strongest fortresses (nations).

Get ready, the Islamizations/Nazification of Turkey is speeding up fast.

Did you see that on the same day Erdogan made this proclomation, he erected a monument (image) dedicated to Islam caliphate (beast). I found this very interesting....

Turkey Builds International Islamic University to Challenge Al-Azhar as Seat of Sunni Authorityby JOHN HAYWARD31 Jul 20170

Turkey is building an “International Islamic University” that is intended to challenge the dominance of the Al-Azhar University in Cairo as the seat of Sunni Muslim scholarship.Turkey’s Yeni Safak News sneers at Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as a “putschist,” which happens to be one of the Turkish ruling party’s preferred terms for alleged 2016 coup mastermind Fethullah Gulen, and accuses Sisi of “sabotaging” religious education at Al-Azhar by imposing political controls on the university’s Islamic education.

According to Yeni Safak, the new Turkish institution will be dedicated to battling organizations that exploit Islam for nefarious ends, such as the Islamic State, Boko Haram, and of course Fethullah Gulen’s followers, whom the government officially refers to as the “Fethullah Terrorist Organization” (FETO). One suspects from this description that Turkey’s new Islamic university will not be entirely free of the political influences that contaminated the curriculum at Al-Azhar....

snip... Erdogan has been urging the Muslim world to improve its educational systems, warning of the “brain drain” caused by talented students seeking a better education and professional life in the West. A more modern style of Islamic university, more open to Muslims of offbeat sects, would fit into that program. It would also produce a new wave of teachers who can bring Turkey’s brand of Islam, and politics, to Muslims across the world....

Erdogan’s recent motives and cornerstone foreign policy objectives are really problematic for the former allies of Ankara. The more Ankara pushes for an independent foreign policy apart from Washington and Berlin the more it becomes a headache for deep states both in the United States and Germany.

Erdogan since sometimes, tried to normalize Ankara-Moscow broken relations. For years he opposed Putin’s position on Syria, and he has given up the demand that Syrian dictator Assad must go. On the contrary he agreed with Russia and Iran, to mutually fight ISIS and Al-Qaida associate Al-Nusra movement.

Furthermore, he pushed deeper to replace NATO military hardware, with Russian and Chinese military technologies. During his visit to Kremlin, he signed a deal to purchase S-400 air and missile defense system. Previously known as the S-300PMU-3, is an anti-aircraft weapon system developed in the 1990s by Russia's Almaz Central Design Bureau as an upgrade of the S-300 family. It has been in service with the Russian Armed Forces since 2007. The S-400 uses four missiles to fill its performance envelope: the very-long-range 40N6 (400 km), the long-range 48N6 (250 km), the medium-range 9M96E2 (120 km) and the short-range 9M96E (40 km). The S-400 has been described, as of 2017, as "one of the best air-defense systems currently made." As soon as S-400 is deployed in Turkey, Ankara is supposed to host Russian military Technicians and advisors in order to materialize its deployment and maintenance. More Russian military advisors mean more leverage of Putin in decision making of Ankara....

Snip... Russia and soviet leaders always used them against Turkish leaders to assert control. The PKK is essentially a Kremlin sponsored cold war era creation. It is partly because of fears of Kurdish nationalism in Syria that Erdogan has come to believe; he has no choice than to accept Kremlin’s position in the region....

ANKARA, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Wednesday approved new leaders for the army, navy and air force, in the biggest reshuffling since he won new powers for the presidency in a referendum in April.

The appointments come amid a continuing government purge of officers and civilians suspected of participating in a failed coup last year, but also as part of a longer term effort to impose civilian control over the once-dominant Turkish military.

The new appointments prepare the ground for the succession to the top military post, the chief of staff. Gen. Hulusi Akar, the current chief of staff, remains in his post, but one of the three newly appointed armed forces chiefs are likely to replace him when he retires. Usually the commander of the Turkish Army is chosen....

In Erdogan’s Turkey, the references to George Orwell are becoming more numerousDuring the height of the protests, participants knew a crackdown could follow. But the reality still seems far-fetchedby Hannah Lucinda Smith / August 3, 2017

It has become normal for George Orwell to creep into political conversations in Turkey: the parallels are too numerous to resist.

A year on from a failed coup attempt, more than 150,000 people have been arrested, fired, or driven into self-imposed exile. The group President Erdogan accuses of orchestrating the revolt are the shadowy followers of an Islamic preacher called Fethullah Gulen. Turks are told that they act as if they are secular—drinking alcohol and wearing revealing clothes—to cover their real pious identities. Consequently, anyone could find the finger of blame pointed at them. Being in possession of a one-dollar bill bearing a certain serial number has been enough to land some people in prison; for others, it was wearing a t-shirt printed with the word ‘Hero’ (both are claimed to be secret signs that Gulen’s followers use to communicate between themselves). Book dumping became common as the crackdown hit—no-one wants to be caught with one of Gulen’s tomes on their shelf....

Turkey may have a new intelligence service. If so, it is probably illegal.

The daily newspaper Sozcu reported Aug. 9 that a new intelligence service has come into existence under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sozcu's Aug. 10 issue was dominated by the story, aptly headlined “Shocking, Documented Allegation.”

According to Sozcu, Bulent Tezcan, the vice chairman and speaker of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, presented evidence at a press conference that a “Presidential National Security Unit” has begun operations under the presidency. Tezcan pointed out that under Turkish law, only the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the national police force and the gendarmerie can collect intelligence, leaving the new intelligence unit under Erdogan with no legal standing....

Iran’s Chief of General Staff Maj Gen Mohamed Baqeri is due to hold talks in Ankara with top Turkish officials, in a rare visit in which all regional security issues, the fight against terrorism, and developments in Syria and Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurds’ upcoming independence referendum, will be discussed.

“The Iranian Chief of General Staff will go to Turkey tomorrow [Aug. 15]. This is the first military visit at this level. The visit will take place upon the invitation [of the Turkish side]. Issues to be discussed are bilateral defense cooperation, regional developments, and border issues,” Bahram Qasimi, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters on Aug. 14 in Tehran.

Baqeri’s two-day visit will be a first of its kind since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Qasimi noted, adding that “we need to increase our contacts at different levels.”

He also referred to preparations for the upcoming Turkey-Iran high-level cooperation meeting, which will be held in Tehran under the leadership of the two countries’ presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hassan Rouhani....

Snip ... Another important issue the two countries’ militaries will discuss is the ongoing work to establish de-conflict zones inside Syria, following a three-way agreement between Turkey, Russia and Iran in May as part of the Astana Process. Although Turkey and Iran have different policies on the future of Syria and on the role of President Bashar al-Assad, they are working to provide a lasting ceasefire and thus a political solution to the ongoing civil war....

Erdogan tells German Turks not to vote for Angela MerkelTurkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has urged Turkish voters living in Germany not to back the country's three main political parties in next month's general elections. He said they were "enemies of Turkey."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday told Turks living in Germany they should punish mainstream German parties in September's parliamentary elections.

"I am calling on all my countrymen in Germany to not make the mistake of supporting them," he said, singling out Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, the Social Democrats and the Greens as "enemies of Turkey."

Instead he urged Turks to "support those political parties who are not enemies of Turkey," calling it a "struggle of honor."...

Erdoğan: prophetic leader or political suicide?DANIEL PETCU 18 August 2017If Erdoğan persists in his callous quest, it will only be a matter of time before he succumbs to increasing economic pressure that will threaten to leave the country destitute.

It has become commonplace to label Turkey as an autocracy following the despotic policies of its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. A wave of ideological purges succeeded the failed coup d'etat of June 2016 that was instigated by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, the Peace at Home Council. Among the motivating factors behind the coup appear to be a combination of an increasing feeling of eradication of secularism within the country, and Turkey's declining influence on the global political stage.

The supposed spearhead of this entire operation has been namechecked as Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish religious figure who was previously an ally of the president until he withdrew his support amidst the 2013 Turkish corruption scandals. Unsurprisingly, Erdoğan has also turned Gülen into the scapegoat for the inception of judicial investigations into said scandals, seeing the whole affair as a joint venture between Gülen and “international forces”, particularly the United States.

However, it is highly likely that such accusations serve as pretenses for the president to consolidate his grip over the country in an attempt to erode the influence of Kemalist ideology and revert to Islamic rule, thus effectively merging the state and religion, as was the case during the Ottoman Empire....

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said Berlin and the rest of Europe should back the "democratically minded" majority of Turks who did not support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a dramatic hardening of Germany's position towards Ankara.

His remarks, at a campaign event for his Social Democratic Party (SPD), come amid sharply deteriorating relations between the NATO allies, after Erdogan urged German Turks to boycott Germany's main parties in next month's election.

"More than half the country is democratically minded. They didn't support him," Gabriel said at the meeting in the western Saarland region, according to the foreign ministry....

Snip... The latest escalation in Ankara's war of words with Berlin was triggered by Turkey's use of an Interpol red notice to have Turkish-German writer Dogan Akhanli arrested in Spain. Accused of terrorism, Akhanli has been released but must remain in Spain while authorities assess Turkey's extradition request....

American Pastor Held by Turkey Charged with Trying to Destroy Constitutional Order, Overthrow Parliament BY BRIDGET JOHNSON AUGUST 24, 2017

Despite pleas from the U.S. government to free a North Carolina pastor who made Turkey his home for more than two decades, the Turkish government has charged Andrew Brunson with attempting to destroy the country's constitutional order and overthrow their parliament.

Brunson has been sitting behind bars since last year, swept up in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's engulfing purge of perceived enemies. Hurriyet reported that the new charges against Brunson came from a different court.

Daily Sabah, a pro-government newspaper, reported that Brunson had been transferred to a maximum security facility and faces the possibility of four consecutive life sentences....

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blasted the U.S. justice system on Friday, saying it was a "scandal" that his security guards are facing indictments in Washington, D.C. over a brawl with protesters in May, when he visited the capital.

The indictments against 19 people stem from an incident during Erdoğan's trip to meet US President Donald Trump. The U.S. prosecutor claims the guards and Erdoğan supporters assaulted peaceful Kurdish protesters, although footage from the scene shows otherwise. The Washington police chief also described it as a brutal attack on peaceful protesters.

15 of 19 people identified as Turkish security guards were charged 'over their roles in violence' on May 16.

"This is a clear scandalous expression of how the justice system works in America," Erdoğan told reporters after prayers for Qurban Bayram (Feast of the Sacrifice), also known as Eid al-Adha, saying the protesters were members of the PKK, which is also a terrorist designated group in the U.S.

"These developments in the United States are not good at all. The United States is still a country where the FETÖ gang is being protected. The United States has literally become a country where the PKK terrorist organisation is under protection," Erdoğan said....

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have warned that secessionist moves are not in the interests of the regional peace and stability, but rather to the detriment of nations.

"Some powers are applying their desires in the region to the detriment of nations," Rouhani said in a telephone conversation with the Turkish leader on Thursday, the state news agency IRNA reported.

The two presidents were apparently referring to Iraqi Kurdish leaders' decision to go ahead with a referendum on possible secession from the Arab country on September 25.

"Iran does not believe some of the separatist tendencies and problems that have arisen in the Persian Gulf region are ever for the sake of peace and stability in the region," Rouhani said.

The central government in Baghdad is opposed to the vote and regional players like Iran and Turkey have also voiced alarm about its consequences, arguing that it could create further instability in the region.

In his conversation, Rouhani regretted insecurity and conflicts in some regional countries, stressing that Tehran and Ankara should more than before play a role in restoring peace to the region....

Snip... Tehran has already said it is ready to help resolve a diplomatic crisis between Qatar and the quartet of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt which have imposed a trade embargo on Doha....

Turkish officials have denounced German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz, her main opponent in this month's general election, for their anti-Turkish rhetoric during a televised debate.

Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for the Turkish presidency, said in a tweet Monday that Merkel and her Social Democratic Party rival were seeking to divert attention from urgent issues in their country and in Europe, such as a surge in discrimination and racism.

In Sunday's debate, Schulz said he would seek to end long-running but currently stalled talks on Turkey joining the EU over what he perceived to be Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian policies.

Merkel, who has previously expressed doubts about Turkey ever joining the EU, refused to commit firmly to the move, which would have to be agreed among EU members. She sharply criticized Erdogan's rule, saying: "Turkey is departing from all democratic practices at breakneck speed."...

IN A mighty motorcade, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, descended on the sleepy town of Malazgirt near the Armenian frontier on August 26th. He came to celebrate a millennium-old victory that Turks hail as the dawn of Muslim domination of these once-Christian lands.

Largely forgotten in the West, the battle of Manzikert in 1071 saw Seljuk Turks, led by King Alp Arslan, crush an imperial Byzantine army said to be twice their size. This Turkic push into Anatolia laid the foundation for the Seljuks’ eventual successors, the Ottomans, who took Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, in 1453 and whose empire at its peak extended from the gates of Vienna to the Indian Ocean....

Snip... “With a Turkish flag in one hand and Islam’s green banner in the other, our victorious forebears entered Anatolia at Manzikert and marched to the middle of Europe with glory and honour,” the president said....

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has moved to justify Turkey's purchase of a Russian-made S-400 missile defence system, a day after its NATO ally the United States voiced concerns over the deal.

Russia and Turkey have signed a contract for Ankara to purchase the Russian-made S-400 missile defence system, the Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday. Erdogan was earlier quoted by local media as saying that his country had put down a deposit for the advanced missile system.

'They have gone mad because we signed an S-400 deal there. So what? Are we going to wait for you?' Erdogan told a meeting on Wednesday in Ankara where he addressed mayors from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Empire of Deceit Unveils Misconduct and Misuse of Taxpayer Funds and Visa Program at Gülen-Affiliated Charter SchoolsBook Calls for Investigations at Federal, State and Local Levels

Amsterdam & Partners LLP today released Empire of Deceit: An Investigation of the Gülen Charter School Network, a new book that, for the first time, details how the nationwide charter school network controlled by the Gülen Organization enriches itself at the expense of American school children, teachers and taxpayers. According to the book, Fethullah Gülen discovered a financing mechanism to support his organization – the American charter school system. 199 Gülen-affiliated schools across the U.S. generate more than $750 million in revenue, primarily through government funds on the backs of taxpayers, using a scheme of suspect real estate practices, insider deals and kickbacks with Turkish vendors, and rampant overuse of the H-1B visa program.

"The Gülen charter school network abuses the H-1B visa program and the American educational system to sustain and perpetuate the Gülen Organization," stated Robert R. Amsterdam, Founding Partner at Amsterdam & Partners LLP and lead author of Empire of Deceit. "It is time for federal, state and local authorities to join with American parents and teachers to thoroughly investigate this network and protect American children and taxpayers."...

President Erdoğan receives warm welcome in New YorkPresident Erdoğan, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, was greeted by many Turks waving flags and chanting slogans10:07 September 18, 2017 Yeni ŞafakPresident Recep Tayyip Eroğan departed for New York on Sunday where he will attend the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly.

Turks waited for the arrival of President Recep Tayip Erdoğan in the vicinity of his hotel where American police took intensive security measures.

Turks waited for the arrival of President Recep Tayip Erdoğan in the vicinity of his hotel where American police took intensive security measures. People waving Turkish flags and bearing banners emblazoned with “Welcome to America President Erdoğan" chanted slogans such as “Stand tall, do not yield, we are behind you."...

Erdoğan criticizes US decision to halt arms sales to his security personnel

DAILY SABAH ISTANBUL Published 20 hours ago

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed the U.S. on Monday for its decision to withdraw the proposal for a $1.2 million arms sale that would have equipped his security personnel, saying that the U.S. was providing weapons to terror groups for free while halting sales to its ally, Turkey.

The U.S. State Department informed Congress on Monday that it was formally withdrawing the planned sale, saying that the decision came at the request of firearms manufacturer Sig Sauer, which had requested the license from the U.S. government that is needed to export weapons outside the country.

The decision was made after a fight erupted between President Erdoğan's security personnel and PKK supporters outside the White House in May.

Speaking to the PBS network in the U.S. during his New York visit, Erdoğan said, "And when we are not able to acquire those weapons from the United States, why are you giving those weapons to terrorists in Syria?"...

The United Nations needs “structural reform” to make it more inclusive and ensure that it is able to fulfill its mission towards world peace, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday in New York City.

“Despite all its shortcomings, the UN remains the sole global umbrella organization where everyone can make their voices heard and seek solutions to their problems,” Erdoğan said. “However, the world is not the world during which the UN was founded.”

Erdogan said the structure of what is arguably the most impactful UN organ, the Security Council, is unjust, resulting in a global organization that is unable to perform its duties as a vanguard of world peace....

Snip... Erdoğan attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Turkish House, a planned 32-story cultural center across the street from the 65-year-old UN headquarters.

Regarding its construction, he said he wanted the cultural and diplomatic center to be a "safe haven for those in trouble", as well as a building that "will remind the UN of its mission and responsibilities"....

Erdogan blasts EU for showing 'disrespect to Turkey's character'The Turkish President spoke in response to the European Commission President’s swipe at Turkey in which he said the country was “moving away from the European Union in leaps and bounds”.

Speaking at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York, the politician said the EU had shown “disrespect to Turkey’s character”.

He said: “Turkey made its unofficial application to the EU in the year 1959. In 1963, Turkey formally applied – for 54 years, they have made Turkey wait at the gate of the EU.

“I wonder if Juncker can tell me this – can he say whether there are those who came later or earlier and got in? What’s being done to Turkey is actually a political embargo and it’s disrespect to Turkey’s character, to its personality....

It's been nearly a year since Turkey detained American pastor Andrew Brunson — and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says if the U.S. wants Brunson freed, it should extradite an elderly Turkish cleric living in the U.S., whom Erdogan accuses of organizing last year's failed coup attempt.

"Erdogan has voiced frustration with American demands for more evidence pointing to Gulen's involvement in the coup effort," NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul.

Peter relays Erdogan's words in a speech at a police academy Thursday: "You have a pastor too," Erdogan said, adding, "You give us that one and we'll work with our judiciary and give back yours."...

Snip... When asked about Turkey's attempt to extradite him, Gulen said, "I think the United States is mindful of its reputation for its democracy and rule of law, and if they are willing to risk that reputation by extraditing me based on the request and claims made by Turkey, I would never say no. I would go willingly."

He also spoke about what his final wish would be if he were to be condemned to die: "I would say the person who caused all this suffering and oppressed thousands of innocents, I want to spit in his face."...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Iraqi Kurdish authorities would pay the price for an independence referendum which was widely opposed by foreign powers.

Iraq’s Kurds overwhelmingly backed independence in Monday’s referendum, defying neighboring countries which fear the vote could fuel Kurdish separatism within their own borders and lead to fresh conflict.

“They are not forming an independent state, they are opening a wound in the region to twist the knife in,” Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum....

Snip... “From now on, our relationships with the region will be conducted with the central government, Baghdad,” he said. “As Iran, Iraq and Turkey, we work to ensure the games being played in the region will fail.”...

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey did not need to become a member of the European Union on Sunday.

“We no longer need the membership of the European Union, but if the European Union wanted to make a breakthrough today, that would be by enabling Turkey’s accession. If the European Union does this, we are here,” Erdoğan said during the Turkish parliament’s third legislative session. The parliament has been in recess since July 27.

“We would be happy to contribute to the future of Europe. If this [accession] does not happen, it does not matter for us. We will continue to advance on our own path,” he added....

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met Wednesday with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani to discuss regional and bilateral issues amid an ongoing debate on the controversial independence referendum by Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which is opposed by both countries.

The two leaders discussed a range of issues, from bilateral relations to the current situation in the region and the fight against terrorism.

Underlining that both Turkey and Iran deem the vote in the KRG "illegitimate," Erdoğan once again asserted that Turkey will only deal with the central Iraqi government and will take stronger steps in retaliation for the referendum.

The referendum which took place last week has only been recognized by Israel....